A Journey of Drawing Near

Topic: A Journey of Drawing Near
Text Hebrews 10:10-22, James 4: 8
18 Feb 2018
 Pr Annie Wong

A journey of drawing near to God means drawing close to His presence, having a close and intimate relationship with Him.

Draw near = approach, come near, draw close, to come closer

1.     The privilege of drawing near (Heb. 10: 19-21)

The Jews drew near to God in the OT times through the Tabernacle by the blood of an animal sacrificed for the atonement of sins. The High Priest will go beyond the veil to the Holy of Holies to offer the sacrifice once a year with no assurance that it will be acceptable as he was also a sinner. In the event that the sacrifice is not acceptable, he will be the first to face the judgement of death.

However, through Jesus Christ the veil was torn apart from the top to bottom exposing the Holy of Holies and is now accessible to all who wants to draw near to Him.  By the blood of Jesus, we have full access to God as Jesus, the High Priest has fulfilled all the requirements of the Law. Jesus has provided us a new way to have access to God.

2.    The conditions of drawing near (Heb 10:22)

1.    A true heart
A true heart is a sincere heart. Without this sincerity of heart, there is no confidence in our access to God. We approach God with no attempts to put up a front or covering up our sins. We allow God to examine our hearts and make our every thought captive in Christ. We live a life of godliness that is transformed by His grace and not in bondage to sin.

An undivided heart John 4: 23-24 is a heart that is wholly dedicated to God alone. It is not divided between God and the world.

2. A confident heart 
We draw near to God in full assurance of faith and not by any system or ritual. For in Ephesians 2: 8, we have been saved by grace not by works but the gift of God. We believe that all God’s promises are true and we act on it by faith (Heb 11: 6) He is our Saviour, Justifier, Cleanser, Healer, Deliverer, Lord, Master and King.

3. A clean conscience 
“Our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience." Sprinkled here is the purging of our hearts from an evil conscience. We face situations where we do the very things that we do not intend to do. It is a struggle of our inner conscience that must be cleansed by God. A cleansed conscience is cleansed by the blood of Jesus given by the grace of God. (Heb 4:6)

4. A clean body 
We are to draw near to God with "Our bodies washed with pure water."  This is the daily cleansing of our soul by the Word of God. The process of sanctification exposes our sinful thoughts and through the cleansing of His words, we can draw near in purity.

The following are checkpoints for our evaluation.

* Am I seeing God anew in the Word through discovery and meditation so I am compelled to draw near to Him?

* Am I being sincere? Is my heart fixed on Him and undivided?

* Am I fully assured that only faith in Christ can bring me to God's throne?

* Am I coming humbly, realizing I can draw near only because of what Christ has done for me?

* Is there any sin in my life I haven't dealt with?

3. Taking up the privilege of drawing near (James 4:8)

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4: 8. We might have felt at times that God is so far away but It is not God that is far from us but we have moved far away from Him. He will be with us always for He is a faithful God who never leave or forsake us. He was and is and will ever be faithful to us. He wants to have an intimate relationship with us.

Let us draw near with a true heart, a confident heart, a clean conscience and a clean body washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ!

Questions:
1. Meditate on Hebrews 10:19-22, how can we draw near to God?

2. Share your life experiences in drawing near to God.

How can l experience intimacy with God?

3. Is there anything you need with the Lord in order to change in the way you meet with the Lord in order to draw near to him?